Deborah wrote: "We were sitting on top of a hill overlooking the Clyde, filming a scene. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Countless newspaper, magazine and website articles say that the Scottish girl who became the archetypal movie perfect English rose was born in the burgh. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Peter Viertel died of cancer on 4 November 2007, less than three weeks later. [12], In 1943, aged 21, Kerr made her West End dbut as Ellie Dunn in a revival of Heartbreak House at the Cambridge Theatre, stealing attention from stalwarts such as Edith Evans and Isabel Jeans. Trained as a ballet dancer, she began acting on stage as a teenager and performed in stage productions at the Open Air Theatre in London and the Cambridge Theatre. She was another governess in The Chalk Garden (1964) and worked with John Huston again in The Night of the Iguana (1964). Kerr had a younger brother, Edmund ("Teddy"), who became a journalist. In 1997 she was created a Companion of the Order of the British Empire. Deborah Jane Trimmer. What nationality was Deborah Kerr? Both flopped, as did Beloved Infidel (1959) with Gregory Peck. Andrew, Penelope. In 1977, she came back to the West End, playing the title role in a production of George Bernard Shaw's Candida. Both were aged 28. The film is as yet (2010) unreleased. After her Broadway dbut in 1953, she toured the United States with Tea and Sympathy. She was born in Hillhead on 1921-09-30. This account has been disabled. There is a problem with your email/password. In 1945 she toured Europe with the play Gaslight to entertain the British Troops. Kerr, nevertheless, used any opportunity to discard her cool exterior. Kerr's first film role was in the British production Contraband (US: Blackout, 1940), aged 18 or 19, but her scenes were cut. She then played Princess Flavia in a remake of The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) with Granger and Mason. Part 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 appeared on September 16, 17, 18, 19 and 22 respectively. This film was a production of the team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. In 1943, aged 21, Kerr made her West End dbut as Ellie Dunn in a revival of Heartbreak House at the Cambridge Theatre, stealing attention from stalwarts such as Edith Evans and Isabel Jeans. In 1944 she was in the Clyde area on location, filming 'Perfect Strangers' with actor Roland Culver. Kerr played three women in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943). Kerr starred in two films with David Niven: Bonjour Tristesse (1958), directed by Otto Preminger, and Separate Tables (1958), directed by Delbert Mann; the latter movie was particularly well received. Deborah Kerr was one of the most famous English actresses of her time. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. She played a nun in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) opposite her long-time friend Robert Mitchum, directed by John Huston. Deborah Kerr died age of 86 in Suffolk, England, on October 16, 2007, due to complications arising out of Parkinsons disease. "Deborah Kerr: An Actress in Search of an Author". Honorary Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1994), Golden Globe Award (1959): World Film Favorites, Golden Globe Award (1957): Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Deborah-Kerr, Deborah Kerr - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). According to Powell, his affair with Kerr ended when she made it clear to him that she would accept an offer to go to Hollywood if one were made. In marrying Viertel, she acquired a stepdaughter, Christine Viertel. She acted in the film Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison opposite Robert Mitchum in 1957. Kerr experienced a career resurgence on television in the early 1980s when she played the role of the nurse (played by Elsa Lanchester in the 1957 film of the same name) in Witness for the Prosecution, with Sir Ralph Richardson. Deborah Kerr CBE (born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer; 30 September 1921 - 16 October 2007) was a Scottish-born film, theater and television actress. Deborah Kerr received professional training as a ballet dancer and first appeared on stage in the year 1938 at Sadler's Wells, a performing arts venue in England. She married Peter Viertel, a novelist and screenwriter, in 1960 and they lived in Klosters, Switzerland for many years. she is one of famous film and television actress (1921-2007) with the age years old group. This film was a production of the team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. and whose actions, in addition to their achievements, embody the Alexander Korda cast her opposite Robert Donat in Perfect Strangers (1945). Kerr had a younger brother, Edmund ("Teddy"), who became a journalist. "Deborah Kerr/Rhymes With Star" was the promotion given to the demure actress appearing opposite brazen Ava Gardner in The Hucksters (1947). Deborah Kerr died aged 86 on 16 October 2007 at Botesdale, a village in the county of Suffolk, England, from the effects of Parkinson's disease. To avoid confusion over pronunciation, Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer billed her as "Kerr rhymes with Star! I thought you might like to see a memorial for Deborah Kerr I found on Findagrave.com. Funeral arrangements are incomplete. The American Film Institute acknowledged the iconic status of the scene from that film in which Burt Lancaster and she romped illicitly and passionately amidst crashing waves on a Hawaiian beach. She won a BAFTA Fellowship Award in 1991. But Deborah . In 1959, Miss Kerr and Bartley, who had two daughters, divorced. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. Returned to the stage in the 1970's in plays including "The Day After The Fair" and "Candida." She starred in The Day after The Fair on the London stage in 1972 and toured the United States with it in 1973. Garbo sightings were reported breathlessly; even. The story goes that on the set of Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) - starring the actress as a nun and Robert Mitchum as a lusty soldier stranded on an island - Mitchum worried that he might offend Her Primness. In Hollywood, Kerr's British accent and manner led to a succession of roles portraying refined, reserved, and "proper" English ladies. In 1953, Kerr "showed her theatrical mettle" as Portia in Joseph Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar. "My mother used to talk about her a lot and said she was a lovely person. In 1955, Kerr won the Sarah Siddons Award for her performance in Chicago during a national tour of the play. Her husband, however, continued to live in Marbella. Kerr won a third New York Film Critics Award and a sixth Academy Award nomination in 1960 and a BAFTA Award nomination in 1961 for the film Sundowners. Kerr departed from typecasting with a performance that brought out her sensuality, as "Karen Holmes", the embittered military wife in Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity (1953), for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. Kerr's first film for MGM in Hollywood was a mature satire of the burgeoning advertising industry, The Hucksters (1947) with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. Biography: Kerr received a bachelor's degree from Valparaiso University, a master's degree in education from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and a doctorate in educational leadership from National-Louis University. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Underly raised more than $1.14 million and spent $818,063 between Feb. 2 and March 22, according to her campaign report. Deborah Kerr is rumored to have hooked up with Burt Lancaster in Mar 1953.. On Screen Matchups. In 1994, having already received honorary awards from the Cannes Film Festival and BAFTA, Kerr received an Academy Honorary Award with a citation recognizing her as "an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance". This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Very romantic! However varied her Hollywood roles, she delivered performances of greater nuance and depth in the European-made films The End of the Affair (1955) - again, as a conscience-stricken adulteress - and Bonjour, Tristesse (1958), as a fashion designer provoked by her lover's daughter. The Scottish-born actress will forever be associated with her roles in. Soon, she switched careers and entered the world of acting. You can always change this later in your Account settings. Deborah Kerr was 24 but looked 18; Robert Donat was 40 but looked 50. Kerr made clear that her surname should be pronounced the same as "car". Her last visit to Glasgow was in 1990, when she was a member of the international jury at the European Film Awards. In September 2021, Kerr's grandsons, Joe and Lex Shrapnel, unveiled a memorial plaque at the former family home in Weston-super-Mare. The film was a hit in the US, as well as the UK, and Kerr won the New York Film Critics Award as Actress of the Year. Deborah Kerr had to wear the padded bras because that was the other fashion of the 50s. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Deborah Kerr, 86, the cultivated Scottish rose beloved in such 1950s blockbusters as. So too was the spy comedy drama I See a Dark Stranger (1946), in which she gave a breezy, amusing performance that dominated the action and overshadowed her co-star Trevor Howard. [4][5], Young Deborah spent the first three years of her life in the west coast town of Helensburgh, where her parents lived with Deborah's grandparents in a house on West King Street. Other TV roles included Ann and Debbie (1986) and Hold the Dream (1986), the latter a sequel to A Woman of Substance. Thereafter, Kerr's career choices would make her known in Hollywood for her versatility as an actress. Her second marriage was to author Peter Viertel on 23 July 1960. [26] At the time of Viertel's death, director Michael Scheingraber was filming the documentary Peter Viertel: Between the Lines, which includes reminiscences concerning Kerr and the Academy Awards.[27]. Born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburgh, Scotland. Kerr and Bartley divorced in 1959. Oct. 18, 2007 Deborah Kerr, a versatile actress who long projected the quintessential image of the proper, tea-sipping Englishwoman but who was also indelible in one of the most sexually. The Famous People. h aged 4 and of her parents are from the Smale family collection, the main picture is an agency shot of Deborah arriving at an awards dinner in London in the early 1970s, and the picture of Nithsdale is by Donald Fullarton. Yet, despite . Vocation : Entertainment : Live Stage (Legitimate theater) Vocation . After changing careers, she soon found success as an actress. Kerr's first film for MGM in Hollywood was a mature satire of the burgeoning advertising industry, The Hucksters (1947) with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. Kerr's first marriage was to Squadron Leader Anthony Bartley RAF on 29 November 1945. She had a strong support role in Major Barbara (1941) directed by Gabriel Pascal. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Concern about the parts being offered to her, as well as the increasing amount of nudity included in films, led her to abandon the medium at the end of the 1960s, with one exception in 1985, in favour of television and theatre work. Her role as a troubled nun in the Powell and Pressburger production of Black Narcissus (1947) brought her to the attention of Hollywood producers. . Although she never won a BAFTA or Cannes Film Festival award in a competitive category, both organisations gave Kerr honorary awards: a Cannes Film Festival Tribute in 1984[35] and a BAFTA Special Award in 1991.[8]. When asked about this revelation, Kerr's response was, "What a gallant man he is!". Deborah Kerr died on 16 October 2007 in Botesdale, a village in Suffolk, England, from the effects of Parkinson's disease. Her training there may account for her dancer's way of sailing through space. She made two films at MGM: The Journey (1959) reunited her with Brynner; Count Your Blessings (1959), was a comedy. 1923). Richard Stirling pieces together the glamourous life of screen actress Deborah Kerr "Deborah Kerr - it rhymes with star!" screamed MGM of its latest acquisition in 1946. Her definitive role was as the Governess Anna Leonowens duelling with Yul Brynner in the King and I (1956). Although at the time he was married to Elspeth March, he states that he and Kerr went on to have an affair. Although nominated six times as Best Actress, Kerr never won a competitive Oscar. During her international film career, Kerr won a Golden Globe Award for her performance as Anna Leonowens in the musical film The King and I (1956). Deborah Kerr Photo: 20th Century Fox ACTRESS Deborah Kerr, star of From Here To Eternity and The King And I, has died aged 86 in Suffolk. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. In An Affair to Remember, an improbably effective romance that is the basis for Sleepless in Seattle, she convinced the world that the Empire State Building was the closest place New York had to heaven. She then played Princess Flavia in a remake of The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) with Granger and Mason. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. She told a story about it in a letter sent in 1990 from her home in Marbella, Spain. 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